Illegal mining is linked to other crimes such as money laundering, bribery and corruption, illicit financial flows, human and weapons trafficking, and other forms of organised crime.
The fight against illegal mining is seeing results. Last week, the ministers in government’s Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster reported on significant progress in curbing this criminal activity and arresting those responsible.
I recently authorised the deployment of 3 300 South African National Defence Force personnel to support the SAPS in its ongoing operations against illegal mining for a six-month period. This deployment will provide valuable support to the SAPS as it gains further ground.
There are approximately 6 100 derelict, unused or abandoned mines in South Africa. In some cases the mines are old and their owners cannot be traced, but in other cases, miners have failed to honour their obligations to rehabilitate or close these mines.